Writing Your Resume Effectively -Resume Tips For Executive Personal Assistants
Writing your resume effectively is the best way to make a good first impression and stand out from the competition. This article will provide some PA resume tips to help you write an effective Personal Assistant Resume. Some people opt for professional assistance with resume writing but good results are achievable by simply changing the format of the resume and tweaking the language. Observe the following principles to produce a competitive and professional Executive Personal Assistant resume.
Target the Employer
You are aiming to get a particular job at a specific company, so it's important to make the details in your resume point to that specific goal. Mass producing your resume and sending it to all and sundry simply won’t work in today’s job market. Employers can spot the difference between a mass market resume and a personalised one, so a personalised resume should give you the edge over the competition.
Quantify Your Achievements
Set yourself apart from the competition by distinguishing your accomplishments. Clearly define your accomplishments by setting them out in a quantifiable way. A Personal Assistant or an Executive Assistant could quantify their achievements using 4 or 5 examples of tasks they have done particularly well, as discussed below.
Outline Your Actions
Each example should be directly related to an aspect of the role advertised; therefore, if a major aspect of the role is organising meetings, as an example, you could describe how you organised a highly confidential external meeting, within a 48 hour deadline; then briefly describe the steps you took and the outcome.
Use the following components to briefly explain how you performed the tasks. Briefly describe:
a) the task (synopsis),
b) action taken (what you actually did),
c) time constraints (deadline),
d) how you used your initiative (ie. calling people out of meetings due to urgency of matter),
e) mitigating circumstances (ie. the need for secrecy and confidentiality)
f) how you performed (did everything go to plan? If not, why not?)
g) the outcome (evidence that your boss thought the result represented a success)
Include figures
Use numbers to show results. Figures are a language employers understand. The aim is to show how you increased efficiency, decreased expenses, or helped your organisation make money. Executive Personal Assistants often manage a budget, and/or are in charge or purchasing supplies on the company's behalf. As an example, you could show how you negotiated better rates with your stationery provider, or reduced costs by implementing tighter controls on stationery usage to reduce theft and waste. Use percentages or before and after figures to drive home the point.
Include an Objective Statement
Formulate an “objective statement” that cleverly interweaves your skills into your response in such a way that it shows you meet the requirements of the role. This also means presenting your attributes and skills in a way that adds value to the role. For example, show how you will bring more to the role than is required, such as improving systems.
If you have evidence of having improved a particular system, such as implementing filtering and colour coding of important email that arrive in your boss's in-box, that would be an example of adding value to the role, provided it improved your boss's efficiency at dealing with his emails. In response to a question in the job ad, this fact could be presented in the form of an objective statement. When information is presented in this way, it answer's the propective employer's specific questions upfront.
Use Action Words
Present your skills in a way that grabs the attention of the reader. Use action words like: analysed, controlled, co-ordinated, developed. Action words present your skills in an appealing and decisive way, while demonstrating your ability to analyse, control, co-ordinate, etc.
Executive Personal AssistantIn-Tray Exercises Explained
What is an In-Tray Exercise?
An Executive Personal Assistant "in-box or in-tray" exercise usually involves a test in which you assume the role of an Executive Personal Assistant at a fictitious company, and perform certain tasks, either by hand or using a PC. In-tray assessments are timed exercises and are conducted under test conditions.
In-Tray Tests For Executive Personal Assistants
For Executive
Personal Assistants, an in-tray exercise may include spelling and comprehension tests, and a letter writing exercise, such as a request to respond to a letter of complaint from a customer on behalf of the boss.
As part of the supporting documentation for the exercise, you may receive a copy of an organisation chart showing the hierachical structure of the organisation; a list of clients (highlighting key clients); and a list of outstanding tasks with deadlines. The documentation may also include letters, emails, faxes and memos.
In-Box Exercise
An In-box exercise may form part of an in-tray test for Executive Personal Assistants. Candidates performing an In-Box exercise will be expected to read and respond electronically to email in an in-box. They can expect to have to read, action and get through as many emails as possible and deal with them thoroughtly.
The Aim of the Exercise
The main aim of the in-tray assessment is to test the candidate's ability to:
- prioritise
- plan
- organise
- analyse
- delegate
- work efficiently
- foresee and solve problems
- communicate effectively with internal and external customers
Candidates should be prepared to state why they took the action
they took in each instance. In the exercise, they should also look out for requests to assist others, and be prepared to give a reason why they could or could not assist their colleague(s).
The key to success is practice, so spend some time on the internet researching the issue or invest in a good book.
If you are considering your next career move and need more experiential information, you might find an informational interview useful. An informational interview is defined as a meeting with someone experienced in the career you would like to enter. It's not an interview; the purpose of the meeting is to glean as much as you can from someone in the know who can tell you about the role you are interested in. More on informational interviews.
Job Search EnginesEverything You Need to Know
Job search engines use state-of-the-art technology to perform online job searches. Employment agencies now use job search engines to post job listings, in addition to posting jobs on their own job search websites. One of the advantages of these search engines is that they allow you to narrow your search by filtering out irrelevant information. New jobs are added to these sites daily or even hourly, so search results differ from day to day.
Some search engines yield better results than others because they can perform a targeted job search of major job search websites and companies, using a keyword and location. Search results can be obtained in the form of a browser list or sent to the job seeker via e-mail. The more effective job search engines can search by company, position, or even commuting distance. They also search job boards, prime newspapers, and numerous companies with career search pages.
There are over 24 million resumes in the Monster.co.uk job search website, and more being added every day. Therefore, if you do not update your CV daily it will be pushed out of reach very quickly, as most employers look for recently posted CVs. Ideally your CV should be in the top ten of the search results.
It makes sense to utilize a couple of niche job websites and corporate sites, in addition to the big job search sites. Be mindful of identity theft issues, as CVs contain a lot of information about you that could be used to steal your identity.
In most cases, you no longer have control over the way your CV is used after it is posted on a job site. These sites are mostly used by employment agencies and employers, but the database may be accessible to anyone who pays the membership fee to search for jobs online.
Problems could arise if your employer finds your CV on the job site. Some job websites give you the option to restrict visibility of your CV by excluding designated companies from the list of companies and employment agencies who can view your CV. This is a good option to have at your disposal.
Always read the privacy protection policy on the website. Note how information will be shared, and who can access the database; walk away if you think the data can be accessed by the public. Always limit your contact details to your town of residence, a mobile number, and an email address. Delete your CV as soon as you find a job.
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